


Water is Another Matter

by hapgen



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future Fish, M/M, MerMay 2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-26
Updated: 2018-05-26
Packaged: 2019-05-13 22:13:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14757257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hapgen/pseuds/hapgen
Summary: Makoto's free time consists of watching television, taking long walks near the beach, and cleaning up trash with a merman.





	Water is Another Matter

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all enjoy this little one-shot! I had a little fun with it. :)
> 
> Thank you to [Aur](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GodmotherToClarion/pseuds/GodmotherToClarion) for her help in writing part of this. Also, please check out her work [Slain by Fire, Sped by Flame](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12014736/chapters/27190440)!

The salty air was refreshing. It was a cool spring day, the weather was calm, and the water was as gentle as ever. The sand was soft- or, from what Makoto could tell. His boots were keeping his feet safe from those evil grains, but they sunk into the ground with every step he took. It felt as though he was walking in mud. The buckets in his hands were swinging back and forth, their clattering annoying him to no end. No matter which way he held them, they would make noise! All he wanted to hear was the sea!

But, he was almost to the set meeting point. All he to do was climb over those rocks- did he just scrape his hand? Ouch, ouch! Makoto winced and looked at the cut on his palm. It wasn’t bleeding, so he could just dip it in the salt water later. He set his gaze forward and continued his quest to climb over these large, apparently dangerous, rocks that were hiding the small pool of water on the beach.

Exhausted, Makoto tossed the buckets over the last rock. They- all six of them -landed either in the water or in the mud surrounding it. Makoto cringed. He didn’t know it was going to be that muddy. But, he’s dealt with worse, like ash and fire, so mud should be no problem. After he finished climbing over that final rock, he swiftly plopped down next to the water (the mud was so squishy) and pulled off his socks and boots. As he rolled up his jeans, he couldn’t help but notice the tiny black dot coming towards him from the sea.

Makoto took a deep breath. The salty breeze pushed his mussed-up brunet hair around as he tried to focus on the dot, which was steadily becoming bigger and bigger. Odd, he thought he was farsighted. He would have to talk to his doctor about that later. He stood back up and gathered up the discarded, dreadful buckets and sat back down on the muddy ground, which was much more wet than he remembered. Oh, the laundry... he was going to have so many weird stains. And- and he still has to walk home. Crap.

“Stay positive, Makoto. Stay.. positive.” He forced out between clenched teeth. He often questioned why he did this- why would he wake up at 7 in the morning with buckets to walk down to the beach? Why would he want to dirty up his clothes? Endanger himself? Gosh, he was already so antsy around the water-

“Makoto.”

Makoto screeched and clutched at his chest, taking quick, shallow breaths. The black dot that was previously in the ocean was now right in front of him. Somehow, Haru had climbed over the rocks separating the pool from ocean without him noticing (Haru was quiet, but what he just did was the next-level kind of quiet). Speaking of Haru, he schooched over to Makoto and tapped his knee.

“Sorry.” He muttered, looking slightly ashamed of himself.

Of course Makoto felt guilty for reacting like that, but: “It’s fine, Haru, but please let me know that you’re here before you climb over? Or, better yet, yell my name as loud as you can?”

Haru pushed back into the pool. “Mm... too much effort.”

Makoto sighed. He’s sitting in the mud, a scrape on his hand, and- maybe he has asthma -hyperventilating, all for this mermaid. Or, merman. The blue-eyed merman was lazily swatting his tail back and forth in the air as Makoto admired the way his black hair floated around his face like a halo, and the taut, pale skin that looked so shiny and soft-

“Makoto.”

“Y-yes, Haru?” Makoto squeaked out, letting his gaze rest somewhere else. Like, oh, that very interesting mossy rock. Very green. And... rocky.

“Are you ready?” Haru went under the water for a moment then popped back up, holding up two plastic bags and an aluminum can.

Nodding, Makoto grabbed one of the buckets and held it out towards Haru, who carelessly tossed the garbage into it. Quietly, Makoto watched as Haru repeated that action, throwing piece after piece of trash into the bucket. Soon enough, it was full of sopping wet and dirty paper and metal.

“Is there any more?” Makoto inquired, squinting his eyes as he tried to spot any more trash under the murky water.

Haru reached down and held up his hand. Makoto looked and wasn’t surprised to see a few cigarette butts and a cotton swab. The trash lied there, the water from the pool dripping off Haru’s palm. Makoto knew how much it bothered Haru to clean every day for hours on end, only to find more and more waste there every day. They’ve been meeting at this same spot for weeks already, but have yet to completely clean it out. The last few spots they’ve worked on were probably dirty again, too.

“Haru-chan...”

Haru looked up at him, expressionless. “Drop the chan.”

Makoto set the first bucket down and picked up the second one, and Haru quietly dumped the handful of trash away. This routine carried on for another hour, both of them working in silence as they filled bucket after bucket. When they finished off the last one, they both sent grim expressions to the water.

Haru picked up a Styrofoam cup. “Makoto.”

“Yes, Haru?” Makoto replied, pushing the buckets closer to rocks. He didn’t want to trash to fall back into the water if they fell over.

“Why do humans do this?” 

Makoto blinked. He didn’t know how to properly answer that. “I... I don’t know. I think most of them do it by mistake- I mean, who would purposefully throw trash into the ocean, right?” He chuckled sadly.

Haru slid himself onto the muddy sand, resting right next to Makoto. “It makes me sad. The water doesn’t like it.” 

Makoto didn’t understand how mermaids- uhm, mermen -spoke to the water. As far as he could tell, they had some kind of telepathy? With the water? He really wasn’t sure. All he knew was that Haru could feel what the water felt, and that was scary enough. Haru never said that the water didn’t effect him.

_(”Haru, do you ever feel pain because of the water? Or, does the water feel pain?”_

_“No. The water doesn’t feel pain- it can’t touch. It can sense.”_

_“Oh?”_

_“Yes. Not pain, but sadness.”)_

Makoto reached over to hold Haru’s hand- ouch. Haru blinked in surprise as Makoto squeaked and dunked his hand under the water. A little red swam out of his hand-

“You’re hurt.” Haru stated.

Makoto shrugged and smiled ruefully, “Not really, Haru! I just scraped it on one of the rocks. It wasn’t bleeding earlier, though.”

Haru reached over and grabbed Makoto’s hurt hand, holding it close to his face. He gently brushed his fingers over the cut, making Makoto let out a quick huff of a chuckle. In amusement, Haru glanced over at Makoto, who bashfully looked away.

“It tickled.” He explained, trying his best to not meet Haru's delighted gaze.

Haru hummed, “Better than it hurting.” He turned Makoto’s palm towards him, and lo and behold, there was no cut. No scrape, no blood, no scar- just callouses and worn skin.  
Makoto still felt in awe whenever Haru used his magic. It was so calm and peaceful. It was like the world stopped for a moment, giving him the rare chance to really focus on Haru. Makoto always remembered how lucky he was to have Haru at his side during those moments. His black hair fluttered in the wind, his blue eyes shimmered with what could only be adoration, and a miniscule smile would grace his features.

So, of course Makoto hasn’t acted on those feelings. Why? Well, Haru was a mermaid- merman, and he was a human. As far as he knew, mermaids- mermen, couldn’t change into humans, despite the magic flowing through them. Furthermore, Makoto couldn’t burden Haru with his feelings. Not when the ocean was sad- especially now that it was starting to negatively affect Haru.

“Makoto.”

Makoto held back another squeak, trying his best to end that habit once and for all, “What is it, Haru?”

Haru was still holding Makoto’s wrist. Both of them watched as Haru’s hand slid up to entwine his fingers with Makoto’s. They both sat there for a moment, staring at the worn, tanned skin next to the pale, scaled skin. 

Makoto let out a breath that he was unknowingly holding. “Ne, Haru?”

Haru squeezed his hand.

“How can you make the ocean happy again?”

A splash was made as Haru flicked his tail into the pool. “We can’t make the water happy. All we can do is protect the ocean until its healed.”

Makoto blinked, “Uhm, sorry, but I don’t understand-”

“It’s fine.” Haru shrugged, “I don’t, either.”

Another gust of wind blew through their little nook, and both were surprised by the intensity of it. Makoto shadowed his eyes with his free hand and looked up at the sky, barely glimpsing the beginning of dark, swirling clouds starting to form. The sun shined down on them for a few more moments then disappeared, leaving Makoto and Haru in a shaded world.  
“Um,” Makoto cleared his throat, “I should probably go. Will you be able to get back to the cove alright?”

Haru huffed. Just thinking about his poor hiding spot (which was his “home”) made him think nasty things. He would rather sit next to Makoto than go back to that dirty, useless place. It was the only area on the Iwatobi coastline that never, if rarely, had any human visits. It was dank, moss and trash was littered everywhere, and despite their efforts to clean it up, Makoto and Haru still couldn’t get that smell out.

Makoto was giving him a concerned look. “Haru?”

“I can get there fine.” He sighed, then reluctantly let go Makoto’s hand. Slowly, he rolled his shoulders back and stretched out his arms. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Y-yeah! But, if it rains, I’ll probably wait until it stops to come over. So...” Makoto replied, his fingers tingling from the loss of contact.

Haru grunted in reply and pushed himself back into the pool. Before he swam off to exit the area, he turned back towards Makoto. Gently, he lifted up a finger and beckoned for Makoto to come closer.

Happily, Makoto obliged. He scooted forward, and was surprised to feel a pair of soft, salty lips against his. As soon as they brushed his, they backed away, leaving behind a warmth that brought a deep blush to Makoto’s face.

“H-haru?” He yelped, mostly out of surprise. Both Makoto and Haru knew that there was something between them, but neither of them have bothered to act on it- due to the obvious. What just occurred was something that Makoto had never (in a million years) expected to happen.

Haru simply smiled, a small one, yet it held so much sincereity and merriment behind it that Makoto completely understood what he meant by it. With a bittersweet grin, Makoto waved as Haru swam over to rocks and climbed over- and laughed when Haru struggled to get his fin over a particularly large rock. Makoto went over to help him, after laughing at his expense for a few minutes. Carefully, Makoto lifted Haru's tail (which was very, very soft) over the rock and into the cool water. Before he went completely over, Haru peeked over the edge of the rock and looked at Makoto.

Makoto could sense that neither one of them wanted to say goodbye. Still, he said: “See you later, Haru!”

“Bye.” Haru said in reply, then swam off.

Makoto waved until the little black dot was gone.


End file.
